According to CryptoPotato, a 3-year-old boy was kidnapped from a shopping mall in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong, on July 3. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 660,000 USDT, equivalent to approximately HK$5.15 million. The parents of the boy were directed to download the Telegram messaging app and buy the USDT ransom from an offline OTC store. They were also cautioned against contacting the police to ensure their child's safety.
The Hong Kong Police Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB), a unit specializing in organized crime, promptly responded. Detectives scrutinized CCTV footage from Tseung Kwan O Plaza and surrounding areas late into the night on July 3 to track down the kidnappers. By 5:25 a.m. on July 4, the boy was found safe, and the suspects were arrested.
The city has seen a 9.4% increase in violent crime during the first five months of this year, with cases rising to 4,237 compared to 3,872 in the same period in 2023. Tether, the company behind USDT, has been associated with a significant number of illegal transactions. In 2023, it was implicated in $19.3 billion of illicit transactions, a decrease from $24.7 billion the previous year. The stablecoin, especially on the Tron blockchain, was the currency of choice for terrorist financing in 2023.
The United Nations also published a report indicating that the stablecoin had been central to money laundering and scams in Southeast Asia. Earlier this year, police in Sichuan province, Southeast China, broke up an underground bank involved in illegal foreign currency exchanges using the USDT stablecoin. This clandestine operation processed transactions worth at least 13.8 billion yuan ($1.9 billion). The criminal group, mainly based in Chengdu, catered to individuals looking to smuggle medicine and cosmetics or buy assets overseas. Authorities arrested 193 suspects nationwide and froze assets worth 149 million yuan.